


Would you Take an Arrow for Me?

by wingsofanillyrian



Category: A Court of Thorns and Roses Series - Sarah J. Maas
Genre: ACOTAR - Freeform, ACOWAR, Angst, F/M, acomaf, mates protecting each other, post ACOWAR
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-27
Updated: 2018-03-27
Packaged: 2019-04-13 12:33:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,770
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14112441
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wingsofanillyrian/pseuds/wingsofanillyrian
Summary: Rhysand is distraught when Feyre is hurt defending him.





	Would you Take an Arrow for Me?

_Feyre’s POV_

Rhys had been on my nerves all day.

He’d agreed to take me with him to visit Devlon’s camp, but had neglected to inform me that he didn’t plan to let me out of his sight. I had intended to gain some hand to hand training experience from some of the battle hardened Illyrians, but hadn’t been able to focus with Rhys’ burning gaze tracking my every move.

I doubled over as my opponent’s staff landed a jab at my stomach for the third time. The lead trainer clucked at me, shaking his head.

“Your thoughts are elsewhere,” he said, eyes flicking above us to the edge of the pit. Frustrated, I growled and threw my staff to the sand.

“I’m done for now. Thank you for your time.” Without another word, I turned on my heel and exited the pit. Rhys said something as I stalked past, but the blood roaring in my ears drowned it out. He caught my elbow, forcing me to face him.

“Feyre, what is it-“

I whirled on him. “Do I  _need_ to be babysat?”

Rhys blinked once before releasing my elbow. “What? I’m not babysitting you. I’m just making sure you’re safe.”

“Damn it Rhys, I can protect myself!” He opened his mouth to either argue or agree, but I cut him off. “You know what, I’m not fighting with you about this here. If you really want to discuss, I’ll be waiting  _outside_ the camp’s border.”

I tromped past the gathered warriors, unflinching under the weight of their stares. Not every day that you witness a High Lord and Lady duking it out. The wards zinged against my skin as I crossed the camp’s barrier, instantly feeling more at ease.

I breathed the crisp autumn air deep into my lungs, letting the scent of dry leaves cool the anger in my veins. A twig snapped behind me, and I knew it was more for by benefit than an accident.

“I’m sorry you felt that I was babysitting you.” Rhys’ inky, thoughtful presence enveloped me as he came to a stop a few feet behind me.

“ _Felt_ like?” I forced my voice to remain calm and steady. “Rhys, what kind of image does it present to those men if I can’t do anything without you hovering over me?” I shook my head as I faced him.

“You can do things without me, you’ve proven that-“

“But they haven’t seen any of those things first hand. I want them to be able to see me as their equal, and I can’t do that with you breathing down my neck!”

“Feyre, please, look at this through my eyes-“

“What do you see? Do you see a pitiful being that needs your protection? I can take care of myself! What are you so afraid of?“

“What am I so-“ He chuckled, the sound low and unnerving as he raked a hand through his hair. “Do you even  _know_ what they do to females in those camps? The horrible things the males do when they think no one’s watching?” I stiffened at the words.

“They wouldn’t dare touch me.”

“You’d be surprised!”

“Even still, that’s no reason for you to-“ I sucked in a breath, my focus narrowing to a glint of light over Rhys’s shoulder.

In an instant, time thickened to the consistency of syrup; everything flowing at a snail’s pace.

I saw the ash arrow whiz through the trees, tracked it’s path through the brush. It was going to impale Rhys, a clean shot right through his heart. He’d be dead in seconds.

I had barely a moment to decide, but then again, there wasn’t a decision to make.

I threw my entire body weight at him, knocking him out of the arrow’s trajectory. Birds cawed as they fled from the disturbance. I didn’t register the hit, but I knew immediately that something was wrong.

My mind was fuzzy. Spots blinked in my vision. As if outside my own body, I touched my bicep, fingers coming away wet. Distantly, I recognized the scarlet color as blood.  _My_ blood. I felt the shaft of the ashwood arrow protruding from the flesh.

And then the pain hit.

Searing, bone-deep pain lanced through my left arm, coating my veins in pure, liquid fire. Someone was screaming, probably Rhysand. Maybe it was me.

I remember crumpling to the ground and Rhys kneeling over me. Tears streaked down his cheeks as he shouted something, but the ringing in my ears was too loud for me to hear anything.

Black tinged my vison as a fresh wave of white-hot fire licked through my body. My fingers clawed at the dirt, my mouth open in a silent scream.

 _End this,_ I begged through the bond, the only thing tethering me to consciousness.  _Kill me, kill me, kill me-_

 _Stop it,_ he growled back, suddenly fierce as he lifted me into his arms. The movement jostled the arrow, twisting it and exposing me to more of the splintering ash, bringing more agony. I was bleeding too quickly, I could feel the liquid dripping from my dangling fingers.

I was going to die. But I couldn’t leave him without saying goodbye. I fought against the black tinting my vision long enough to choke out three words down our bond.

_I love you._

I plunged into the black abyss, never expecting to return.

***************

_Rhys’ POV_

I replayed the moment over and over in my mind. I’d been screaming at her, more upset and annoyed in that moment than I had ever been before. One second, she was flinging more poisonous words back in my face, and the next I was on the ground.

It had taken me a few precious moments to realize what happened.

And then I saw the blood.

There was so much blood.

It poured from around the ash arrow that had punctured straight through her arm. She’d touched it then, activating the detrimental effects of the wood.

For as long as I live, I will never forget her scream.

It tore from her throat, a blood-curdling, ear-piercing scream that rattled my bones. With half a thought, I misted every foreign body within the dark forest as I scrambled to her side.

“Feyre, darling, stay with me baby,” I pled, cradling her face in my shaking hands. Her breathing was labored- not a good sign. The ash must’ve pierced an artery, the poison coursing through her veins already reaching her vital organs.

And she was losing more blood with each increasingly weak beat of her heart.

My tears splashed onto her cheeks as her eyelids slid shut. I pulled her into my lap, the arrow twisting. Her face contorted, mouth open in a silent scream as she convulsed.

“Feyre, it’ll be alright, I love you, I love you, I love you-“

 _End this._ Feyre’s strained, broken voice filtered through our bond. The words clanged through my entire being.

_Kill me, kill me, kill me-_

_Stop it._ I hefted her fully into my arms, phantom pains pulsing through my own arm. I knew they were but shadows of what she was enduring.

She was slipping away, our bond dimming with each moment. It guttered and flickered, like a candle in the wind.

I winnowed us to the nearest camp, directly to the healer’s tent. I remember screaming for someone, anyone, as she told me she loved me one last time. And then she was asleep.

***************

She’d been asleep for three days.

Over the course of those three days, healers came and went, Cassian and Azriel cried- actually  _cried-_ at their High Lady’s bedside, and Mor had taken one look at her, at the pus leaking through the bandages, and hurled her guts up.

I paced. I sat at her side, holding her hand, begging her to wake up. It was a futile effort though; she couldn’t hear me.

Her mind was shielded by a wall of solid onyx stone, not a single crack for me to slip through. I didn’t know if she was going to pull through. I became a rubber band stretched taut; one tiny incident away from snapping.

The healers had told me that the arrow had nicked her brachial artery, and that she was lucky to be alive. Most people bled out within the space of a few minutes. They said it was the strength of our mating bond that had kept her alive.

They told me it was good that she was asleep. Because that meant her body was healing. Because she couldn’t feel any pain. I tried to accept their reasoning, but I just wanted to look in her beautiful blue eyes one more time.

But she didn’t wake up.

I didn’t stop pacing.

Two more days passed the same as the others.

But then she tugged at our clouded bond.

A tiny crack in her mental shield appeared, allowing me into her consciousness. Where there had once been blindingly bright light, I found only a dim spark. But it was something at least, and I sobbed with relief.

Tenatively, carefully, I called out to her.

_Feyre?_

The spark flickered, dimming further. My heart lurched, and I clung to her hand like a lifeline.

_Feyre, come back to me. I love you, Feyre darling._

Nothing happened. The light stayed as it was, a barely-there pinprick of her consciousness. Fresh tears spilled from my red, puffy eyes, dripping to the sterile sheets. So this was it, then. Her shield was cracking because she was dying, slipping further and further away with each passing breath.

This was her goodbye.

“Feyre, I want you to know that I will always love you.” I smoothed a hand over her golden hair, committing the feeling to memory. “I will look back on the love we shared every day for the rest of my life. And I promise-“

Sobs wracked my body as I struggled to find my voice again. It was too hard- too hard to imagine going home without her.

“I promise our daughter will know how brave, strong, and courageous her mother was. She will know that you loved her, and are watching over her.”

I kissed her hand, lips wet with salty tears. “I love you.”

Her conscious flared. Wild, senseless hope flared in my chest. My heart pounded as I tried to rationalize the momentary flash. Maybe I’d imagined it in my grief, or it was just her way of pushing my buttons one last time. But I had to make sure.

_Feyre?_

A pause, long and heart-wrenching. And then a single syllable from her.

_Rhys._


End file.
